


I Am Here Tonight

by starsandauras



Series: The World's a Beast of a Burden [14]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Babyfic, Bonding with the girlfriend's baby, F/M, Gen, Is it possible to have a fic without those? Eh we'll find out someday, Multiple Warriors of Light, Thancred's Issues, Will's Accent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29015907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsandauras/pseuds/starsandauras
Summary: Brigid is terrible about taking everything on by herself, and that includes raising her wee baby. Thancred wasn't there when it all started, but he's therenow, and while he might not be used to children that isn't going to stop him from shouldering some of the burden with her.
Relationships: Warrior of Light/Thancred Waters
Series: The World's a Beast of a Burden [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1233692
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	I Am Here Tonight

Thancred could see how tired she was, even though she tried to hide it. Dark circles under her eyes, the fine trembling in her hands, how some blinks were longer than they needed to be. There was a brittle edge to her smiles as she assured everyone she was alright, and he as well as everyone else around her knew she was bending the truth.

(He’d never outright accuse her of lying, he’d seen what happened the last time someone tried.)

Brigid insisted on going on, not asking anyone for help, not even Lord Edmont who had experience in matters such as what Thancred assumed was causing the trouble. And he could only assume, having missed so much. He didn’t know first hand what troubles the party had been experiencing, much less everything Brigid had gone through herself.

He only had an idea, and he only had that idea because he’d been sharing her bed since his return. And perhaps (well, more than perhaps, but he’d like to give himself a little leeway) that made him a horrible… whatever he was to Brigid at this point, lover still? Yes, he’d go with lover for now. Perhaps that made him a horrible lover, but there hadn’t been a discussion of what was expected of him with regards to her child. So he would sleep through Cred’s cries, or he would wake up long enough to notice Brigid slide out of bed to comfort him, or when she returned to bed.

It was the morning he woke up to find her still asleep in the chair next to Cred’s cradle that was the morning he’d had enough. Very gently he’d scooped her up — and dismayed a little inside at how little she weighed even after birthing an Auri child — and just as gently placed her back into bed beneath warm covers. He pressed a quick kiss to her temple, smiling softly at the quiet noise she made as she relaxed into the bed, before quietly dressing for the day and joining the others.

He stood by the wall, arms crossed as he watched the group mingle at breakfast, keeping an eye out for William. Soon enough he caught the other man’s eye, and a tilt of his head was clearly enough to bring him over. William leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as well. “She alreet?” William asked, glancing around.

“Still asleep,” he said quietly, agreeing with William’s silent decision to keep this conversation between them. “I found her next to the cradle.” William nodded, but said nothing. “Has it been this way since he was born?” he asked, ready to be furious on her behalf.

William shrugged. “She wus sayin’ Lord Edmont wus helpin’ ‘er one night wi’ th’ colic, but aye, ‘tis been tha’ way.” He raised an eyebrow at him. “Why ye askin’?”

Thancred raised an eyebrow at him in return. “And you’ve done naught to help her? Your own twin sister?”

“Ah helped wi’ Nidhogg th’ first round, thank ye much,” William huffed. “Since th’ lass wus jes’ givin’ birth an’ all.” Ah yes, though he was the lone O’Donnell without the Echo, William was still a skilled fighter in his own right, a ninja himself in all but training, though he preferred to serve as his sister’s retainer. “As tae helpin’ wi’ th’ lad, she was kickin’ me ou’ after th’ firs’ two moons.”

Which was _not_ when Thancred had returned. “And you _let_ her?” William only stared him down for a moment before he huffed. “Oh of course, forgive me. There’s no _allowing_ Brigid Océane Aine O’Donnell to do anything, is there?”

“She jes’ daes it, aye,” he agreed. “An’ she wus decidin’ tha’ she wus gang tae dae ‘tall ‘erself.”

Thancred gritted his teeth and pushed himself away from the wall. “She shouldn’t have to.” Without waiting for a response from William he walked away.

William simply smiled and nodded to himself, clearly pleased with how the conversation had gone.

* * *

That night they settled into bed, Thancred pulling Brigid into his arms and letting her settle her head on his chest, as she always did. She fell asleep almost before her head touched down, and he held back a growl knowing that he had only inadvertently made things worse. Well. That was going to change tonight.

He woke up more to Brigid’s moving than to Cred’s fussing, and he pushed away the stab of guilt he felt. He was learning, he had to remind himself. “Easy,” he murmured to her, gently catching her shoulder. “I’ll take care of him.”

She sleepily turned on him, eyes flashing weakly. He could see the irritation but it was clearly warring with what looked like relief. “What?”

He gently shifted Brigid down onto the pillow and moved to rise himself. “Sleep. I’ll see to Cred.”

“But if he’s bein’ hungry…” she tried to protest, even as her eyes were sliding shut again, and Thancred chuckled before leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek.

“I’ll wake you. But for now, rest? Please?” he added when she looked like she was going to protest again.

“Be mindin’ how you’re holdin’ him,” she murmured as she slowly faded, and Thancred smiled.

“Of course,” he said softly, brushing her hair from her face before making his way to the cradle where Cred was working up to a proper wail.

“Easy lad,” he said softly, leaning over to gently pick him up the way he’d watched Brigid and the others do. As he did he noticed that Cred had somehow kicked his blanket off while he slept. He tucked it back around him as he picked him up, smiling as the cries trailed off when he did so. “Cold?” he asked, not minding that assuming Cred even understood him, he couldn’t answer. “I’ve fixed that, at least.” Absently he started walking around the room and bouncing sometimes, letting the motion soothe him as well.

From her place in the bed, Brigid let the eye she’d left open a slit finally close and relaxed.

“You feel the cold more than most children, I expect, being half Auri,” he continued, holding Cred closer against him. He continued to calm at that, finally the only sounds he made were his soft breathing and occasional coo and gurgle. “Was that it?” Thancred asked, sounding relieved. “Good.” He kept walking though, wanting Cred at least on his way to sleep before putting him back to bed. “Perhaps we could take this time to come to an agreement?” He looked down at the infant, and was surprised to see him almost curled up against his chest. He sighed, feeling himself melt just a little. “Go easier on your mother?” he whispered, hesitantly reaching out to trace the tiny scales that went across Cred’s cheekbones. When it didn’t seem to upset him any he relaxed more. “She’s quite tired, you see. And she’s not a woman who asks for help often, so she’s taking this all on her own.” He passed by the rocking chair — a gift from Lord Edmont, he’d heard — and paused. Then doubled back to sit down in it. Easier than all the walking, and it didn’t seem to upset Cred. “And she shouldn’t have to do it,” he murmured, mostly to himself as he settled and started rocking.

He glanced over at the bed, at Brigid’s still form under the blankets, and sighed. “You’re fortunate,” he whispered, adjusting Cred in his arms, “to have her for a mother. I doubt any other child could be as fiercely guarded by anyone else. Nor as fiercely loved, I suspect.” He brushed a lock of dark hair off his forehead and was greeted with barely open tiny green eyes. It felt like a kick to the jaw every time he saw Brigid’s eyes looking up at him from Cred, that visceral reminder that even if the child had come out more Au Ra, there was no doubting who his mother was.

And a reminder that he hadn’t been there for her when she’d needed him most.

“Be kinder to your mother than I was,” he murmured, trailing his finger down Cred’s nose, smiling despite himself at the tiny huff the baby made in response. He sighed softly, glancing at Brigid again. “I’ve made far too many mistakes with her, more than I think I could ever make up for.” He shifted Cred again, smiling again as the baby yawned. “You, meanwhile, will be forgiven anything and everything, even keeping her up all night.” He leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes for a moment. “I should have been helping her the moment I returned,” he mused to himself, before getting fully distracted by almost everything that Cred did, from sudden flailing about from five different limbs (and suddenly Thancred understood how he’d lost the blanket) to snuffly sneezes and finally drifting off to sleep.

Thancred felt himself finally relaxing fully as he stood and gently placed Cred back into the cradle, making sure the blanket covered him before sliding back into bed with Brigid. He smiled softly as she sleepily settled back into place. “Cred alreet?” she asked, still half asleep.

“Cold and lonely, that’s all,” he whispered, nuzzling her lightly. “Settled down once he was held.”

“Checkin’ he wasnae wet?”

Thancred paused, body tense and ready to get back out of bed if needed. “I… did not think to?” he said hesitantly. “As he settled down so fast. Do I need…”

Brigid laughed softly and shook her head against him. “Nay, nay. Dinnae ye be worryin’ ‘bout it.”

He relaxed again, nodding. “I’ll be keeping an eye on him at night until you’ve slept properly,” he told her, placing a finger over her lips when she looked like she was about to object. “You’re no good for him if you’re tired all the time. I’ll bring him to you when he’s hungry, but until then you’re to sleep.”

She cracked an eye open all the way and looked up at him from her place on his chest. “An’ when I’m havin’ proper sleep?” she asked, eye searching.

“I’ll continue looking after him, as long as you’ll let me,” he said, not hesitating, surprising even himself with how much he meant it. Brigid watched him for a long while and he leaned over to kiss her softly. “Let me help.”

She watched him for a moment longer before letting out a breath that seemed to completely deflate her, then inhaled in what sounded like utter _relief_. She curled up closer as she closed her eye again, nodding. “Aye, alreet.”

He smiled in his own relief as he brushed his fingers through her hair. “Good. Sleep now, I have you.” When she was asleep soon after he glanced over to the cradle, then up at the ceiling, before closing his eyes and letting himself drift off as well. “I have you both,” he murmured.


End file.
